Useless borewells

As many as 877 borewells dug in the district under Ganga Kalyana Scheme has been rendered useless, thanks to the delay in providing electricity to lift water from them.

Chamarajanagar has been suffering from severe water scarcity due to the failure of monsoons in the past two years. During the period, borewells were dug in the district by making use of the funds allotted by Dr B R Ambedkar Development Corporation, D Devraj Urs Development Corporation for Backward Classes and Karnataka Minorities Corporation.

However, since the borewells have remained unutilised, beneficiaries worry that electrification of the borewells now might be of little use, as they fear a significant drop in ground water levels.

A total of 696 borewells dug under Dr B R Ambedkar Development Corporation, 164 under D Devraj Urs Development Corporation for Backward Classes and 17 under Karnataka Minorities Corporation are in need of electrification. Despite demands, district administration claims that electrification of only 262 of the 877 borewells are ‘under progress’.

In Chamarajanagar division of Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), 413 applications seeking electrification are pending, while the number in Kollegal CESC division is 284.

Lack of machinery

However, CESC officials have blamed the lack of necessary machinery for the electrification of borewells. “We need electric poles, wires, transformers and several other instruments to provide electric connection to the borewells. But, Chamarajanagar division does not have the machinery to provide electricity to all the pump sets,” said an official from CESC.